I Believe In Us
by katieupatree
Summary: "I won't ask you to stay," he starts, eyes locked to Kate's and hands holding tight, "but I can't tell you to leave. It's your decision, Kate. It's your future." A post-Watershed one shot. Beckett's decision between New York and Washington D.C.


Written because I beleive that Beckett should have it all, the love of her life and the job of her dreams. Whatever happens, she should at least give herself the opportunity to try - the job doesn't have to be forever, just a chance to discover a little more of herself.

**Disclaimer:** Nope, they're still not mine! I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

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**I Believe In Us**

Hours later, as they lie beneath his sheets with long since steadied hearts, Castle finds his thoughts consumed by the feeling that all is not quite as it should be; a whisper of uncertainty blowing through the midnight air, seeping into the spaces between their sleepy limbs with a taunting emptiness that weighs heavily against his chest. He wants to ignore it, to close his eyes and fall asleep to the lullaby of Kate's murmured breath, to think only of the diamond ring that sits proudly on her finger and believe that everything is going to be right with their world; he wants to, more than anything he wants to, but he can't. He is a better man than that.

"What's wrong?" he asks, almost regretting his words even as he speaks.

"I thought you were asleep," she tries, drawing herself closer, wrapping her arms tighter; hoping it will be enough to distract them both from Castle's unanswered question.

"What's wrong?" he repeats, certainty etching into his words.

He watches her then, through the almost darkness that casts shadows across their entwined bodies, seeking her eyes that could never hide. Fierce emeralds in the moonlight, speaking to him even as her lips were too afraid. The truth of Kate Beckett was always written in her eyes, they were a gateway to her heart for those who had the honour of knowing how to read them.

"What's wrong?" he whispers, lips so close that he can taste summer on her skin, two bodies forged from one soul.

"What are we going to do about Washington?" she asks, in a small, quiet voice.

He wishes that he knew what to say, that his words could soothe her tortured mind, but, in truth, he isn't sure that such words exist. For the first time in longer than he can remember, words are failing him. This wasn't his story to write, nor his ending to find. It was their journey, their adventure, their path still to discover.  
And so he answers with the only words that he could be certain of, keeping his promise to never live behind the walls that had haunted Kate's heart for so many years, "I don't know."

"I don't know, either," she laughs, soft and hopeful, the sound of it settling in his heart as her lips tugged a smile from his own. Uncertainty together a thousand times better than certainty apart.

"I won't ask you to stay," he starts, eyes locked to Kate's and hands holding tight, "but I can't tell you to leave. It's your decision, Kate. It's your future."

She interrupts him before he can continue, voice shaken with her need for him to listen, "It's our future. It's not mine, and it's not yours. It's our future, okay? It's ours."

"This is our future," he assures, lips kissing the engagement ring that felt like home for them both, heart still fluttered by the exhilarating rush of hearing her say yes to his proposal, the world around them melting away with messy kisses and needy hands. "This is our wedding day, our honeymoon, our family and friends welcoming us home. This is picnics in the park and watching the sun set into the ocean. This is loving each other so much that we almost hate each other, the arguments and the days when we refuse to speak at all. This is the house that we will buy together, the home that we will make for ourselves and the nursery that we will decorate. This is our beautiful baby, our boisterous toddler, our little girl growing up and wanting to be just like her Mama. This is growing old together, hand-in-hand and you still flicking me on the ear for being foolish. This is our promise of always."

He stops then, just for a second, a moment so fleeting it could have simply been a pause for breath. Stops to watch those wonderful eyes, open and unafraid, seeing the world that he was creating for them as a destination written in the stars, wanting just as desperately as Castle for every word of it to come true.

"But this job, this opportunity, this is your future. You are extraordinary. I've known that from the instant you walked up to me and demanded that I answered your questions, all short hair and serious eyes; I didn't know what had hit me. You're destined for greatness, and maybe that will take you to Washington. 'All I want is you' was never going to be enough, but that is why I fell in love with you. You want more, you deserve more, and I would never stop you from achieving that. It's going to be harder than either of us can imagine and it is going to break our hearts every day that we are apart. We're going to be lonely, we're going to get jealous, we're going to look back on this night and wonder if we didn't make the worst mistake of our lives. But that doesn't make it impossible. I believe in us. I believe in our love. We've survived more in five years than most people would in five lifetimes, and we will survive this. I am here, Kate. Whatever you decide, I am by your side every step of the way. This will always be our life, but this has to be your choice."

"I want the job," she says, words shaken but mind sure, "I want the job."

"Then you take it. You go to Washington with your head held high and you save the world, you keep us all safe from tigers and ex wives."

She can't help the laughter that tumbles from her lips; her nine year old on a sugar rush, always there to brighten her day and prove the possibility of joy.

"Thank you," she speaks, hands reaching out to Castle as if by instinct, fingertips familiar to the strong line of his jaw, "Thank you for believing in us."

"Always," he replies, the uncertainty he had felt earlier gone entirely, replaced only by a longing to show his fiancé the depth of that belief; starting with the open mouthed kisses that would be watched by the softly rising sun, a new day welcoming them both to the life that they would build together.

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Thank you very much for reading, it is greatly appreciated!

I know that not everyone is agreed on the idea of Beckett accepting the job, but I hope that you have still enjoyed my story. Please do let me know what you thought?

Katie xx


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